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KABUL, 28 June 2007 (IRIN) - Floods
have killed at least 50 people and injured tens of others in seven provinces
in the north, east and south of Afghanistan over the past two days, Afghan
officials said.

"Initial reports indicate that flooding
has killed up to 17 people in [northern] Panjshir Province alone,"
Abdul Matin Adrak, director of the Afghanistan National Disasters Management
Authority (ANDMA), told IRIN on 28 June.

Several people have also died in southern
Paktia, eastern Kunar, and northern Parwan provinces, and in Kabul, ANDMA
said.

A joint disaster response committee comprising
several government bodies, UN agencies and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) fear the number of people who have died in the floods that have
hit different parts of Afghanistan since 24 June could be higher.

"These are only initial reports
which may change once extended assessments are conducted," Ghulam
Haider, a government official, said.

Afghanistan's disaster response committee
has also reported the destruction of tens of houses in flood-affected areas,
which has displaced many families.

"Bridges, canals, roads, agricultural
land and many other things have been destroyed," a joint government
and NGOs rapid assessment report indicated.

Helicopters in action

On 27 and 28 June about 2,500 individuals,
surrounded by floodwaters, were evacuated by military helicopters from
a remote location in eastern Kunar Province, officials said.

Forty other stranded people were airlifted
from Kama District of Nangarhar Province on 27 June, according to provincial
officials.

However, torrential rains halted evacuation
operations late on 28 June in Kunar Province.

"Unrelenting rainfall is increasing
the level of floodwaters thereby threatening the lives of some 200 people
who are awaiting help on a hillside," the governor of Kunar, Shalizai
Deedar, told IRIN from Kunar.

Kunar is one of the worst flood-affected
provinces. According to the governor and ANDMA, at least eight people have
died and many others have been injured.

Meanwhile, the airlift ran into difficulty
on 27 June when a military helicopter was stranded for lack of fuel in
Kunar Province.

Humanitarian response

Afghanistan's Red Crescent Society has
started distributing tents and blankets to some affected families in Kunar,
Paktia and Panjshir provinces.

UN agencies and some international humanitarian
organisations have, meanwhile, pledged to send food and nonfood relief
to those displaced and affected by the recent flooding.

However, humanitarian aid will only reach
needy people after need assessments have been conducted, a UN official
in Kabul said.

The UN World Food Programme will distribute
foodstuffs and the UN Children's Agency (UNICEF) will distribute family
kits, which include tarpaulins, plastic sheets and kitchen appliances.

"A disaster management commission
chaired by Second Vice-President Karim Khalili has approved plans for the
disbursement of 10,000 Afghanis [US$200] for any individual killed in the
flooding," the head of ANDMA said.

More rain forecast

According to Afghanistan's national meteorology
department, heavy rain, flooding and storms are unusual at this time of
the year.

"There will be rain in some parts
of the country in the coming three days," said the head of the meteorology
department, Abdul Qadir Qadir, without specifying how heavy it would be.

"It is due to global climate change
that we are seeing increasingly violent fluctuations in our weather conditions,"
Qadir said.